We'll Make A New Start
by MoonytheMarauder1
Summary: When Percy falls ill, it's somehow up to Draco to make sure the man actually rests. PercyDraco fluff.


**A/N: Hey y'all! Some more PercyDraco, because I am obsessed. Written for Hogwarts—prompts are below. :)**

**First Aid Task 7: Write about taking care of someone sick**

**Word Count: 2174**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Those rights go to JK Rowling.**

**Note: This is a blind!au… but the blindness isn't really important to the fic. There are mentions of ableist behavior, but that's not the sole focus. Also, this is an established relationship fic. :)**

**Thanks to Gen for beta-ing!**

**Enjoy!**

It really wasn't often that Draco called his boyfriend's mother, but, well. Needs must.

"Feel his forehead?" he repeated into the Muggle whatever-the-hell-it-was. "What does his forehead have to do with anything?"

Molly Weasley exhaled slowly. "Dear," she said, and Draco recognized her tone as one that was about to run out of patience, "if it's hot, he has a fever—he's ill."

Draco narrowed his grey eyes, skeptical. Still, he headed over to where his boyfriend was working at his desk. "You said this was a Muggle method? Are you sure it's reliable?" He stuck his hand out towards Percy, whose blue eyes widened when he realized what Draco was trying to do. "Come _here_," Draco hissed, keeping the Muggle communication device away from his ear.

Percy, face flushed and eyes watery, shook his head firmly. "I'm fine," he rasped.

Draco rolled his eyes and shot his hand out to Percy's forehead. He gasped and drew his hand back and spoke into the telly-thing. "Oh no, he's hot!" He addressed Molly once more. "Merlin, you're right—"

"Draco, dear, calm down." Molly's voice was supposed to be soothing, but all Draco could think was that he was _not equipped for this, dammit._ "It's most likely just a small fever. Make sure he drinks plenty of fluids and gets lots of rest—and keep him warm. Then he'll be well in no time."

Draco's face whitened. "You're not coming over?"

Molly sighed heavily. "I'm afraid not. Little James and Albus are both ill, too—I'm watching them while Harry and Ginny are on their vacation. I'll call you in a few hours to check on him, okay? Thank you for taking care of him, love."

Draco gulped. She sounded so sure that he would do just that—but he'd never actually been around anyone sick before. Still, Percy was one of the few men he could stand to be around these days—the only person he chose to be around.

Draco frowned at his lover, even though the other man couldn't see him. He needed to be good for the man; he'd come such a long way from being the spoiled child of his youth.

"Right. Er… thank you, Mrs—Molly." He heard her chuckle when he stumbled over her name, and his resolve solidified. These people hadn't been under any obligation to take him under their wing, but they had—he would not let them down.

He could take care of his lover. It was only one day, and Draco Malfoy didn't fail at anything.

Well. Almost anything.

"Good luck, dear. I'll try to stop by this evening to check on the two of you—how does that sound?"

Draco shook himself out of his reverie. "Great," he agreed. "Yes. Thank you."

After a couple brief pleasantries (which Draco tried to rush through as best he could, because this was decidedly _not _how ancient purebloods spoke to each other), Molly ended the call after agreeing on a time to meet.

Which left Draco alone with a very unhappy Percy.

He could do this. He could do this.

Percy turned his head to where he believed his lover to be. "I can taste my hatred for you right now," he snapped. "I can't believe you called my _mother_."

Draco humphed. "You'd have done the same thing," he defended.

Percy blew the red curls out of his face—or tried to, since they were plastered to his forehead with sweat. Draco sighed. "Let's get you to bed," he said more gently.

Percy shook his head vehemently. "I don't need it. Both of you are exaggerating—"

"By Morgana, get in the bedroom," Draco said, exasperated. "I'm sure I'll kill you by accident eventually, but a virus will not do you in—not when your mother is coming in a few short hours. I'd like to not be charged with murder."

Percy rolled his blue, unseeing eyes. "Such chivalry," he deadpanned.

Draco made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. "That's for Gryffindors, thank you. I am most definitely _not _a Gryffindor."

Percy shot him a small smile. "No," he agreed. "You're not."

Draco shook his head slightly and took Percy's arm. "Lie down," he instructed, pulling the older man to his feet. "We'll go from there."

Percy nodded. Draco let him go, unconcerned when his lover stumbled slightly; it hadn't been that long ago since he'd lost his sight to a curse in the Battle of Hogwarts, and Draco knew that any mollycoddling would only offend the Gryffindor. That suited Draco well—he wasn't one to hover over anyone.

He understood pride, and ambition, and the suffering that occurred when someone worked on the assumption that you were incapable of doing what you needed to do.

Percy was treated as incompetent because of his blindness. Draco was considered incompetent because of his wealthy upbringing.

Lately, Percy had had more luck proving others wrong than he had.

Draco walked over to the kitchen, opened the cupboard and stared for a moment at the contents. He bit his lip. He didn't know where to begin.

Fluids, Draco remembered. Molly had told him to give Percy lots of fluids. So, after grabbing a cup and filling it nearly to the brim with water, Draco delivered Percy a glass, careful not to spill. He gently took Percy's hand and guided it to the correct place.

"Right." Draco patted the mattress beside them as Percy stood in the middle of the room. "You're supposed to be on it, you know."

"I'm not getting in bed. I'll take the water, but I have work to do."

Draco snorted. "Not today, you don't."

Percy crossed his arms, awkwardly gripping the water, still. "All I am using this bed for is sleeping, eating, and maybe building a little fort when the girls come over—"

"I swear, Percy—" Draco stopped. _Sick_, he reminded himself. _He's sick, even if the stubborn bastard won't admit it._ Draco pulled at his blond hair, then spoke in a clamer voice. "You can do all those things, because you are _resting._ Unless you want to make yourself even more ill and have to stay in bed longer?"

Percy hesitated, and Draco held his breath. He really, really didn't want this to develop into an argument. Luckily, though, Percy climbed onto the mattress. Draco smiled, tired but relieved. He walked over and ran his long fingers through Percy's hair, grinning when the other man leaned into his touch.

"You don't have to do this," Percy tried again. His words might have been confident, but Draco could hear the rasp in his voice. He was shivering, too.

"Well, I'm doing it," Draco said firmly. "Lie down, would you? You must be freezing."

He could practically hear Percy debating whether or not to obey, and sighed in relief when his lover sank back into the pillows. Draco grabbed a spare blanket and tucked it firmly around the other man.

"There," he said, content. "Drink up; I'll be back with… whatever I can find in the kitchen."

Percy chuckled lightly, which turned into a coughing fit. Draco winced in sympathy, gently rubbing his lover's shoulder. When Percy's breathing finally returned to normal, his face was flushed and he was shivering worse than ever. His brow was drenched in sweat.

Draco frowned sharply, worried. He threw another blanket over Percy, who slowly positioned it, as though his limbs ached. Draco kissed his temple, and his brow creased when he realized how hot to the touch Percy was.

He hurried back to the kitchen, managed to heat a can of soup without much trouble, and then delivered the steaming bowl to Percy. His lover took it greedily, shuddering as he took the first bite.

"Mmm." Percy swallowed. "It's good."

"I'll be sure to write and thank the company," Draco said dryly. Then his features softened. "May I take your clothes? I should probably—what?"

Percy grinned lazily up at him. "Take my clothes."

Draco stared at him, his face slightly pink. "Bastard," he muttered. "I thought you had more class than your brothers. Here I am, trying to be a good lover—"

"Hey." The joking light was gone from Percy's face, replaced by a solemnity that Draco had seldom seen directed at him. "You are, okay?"

Draco blinked. "Are what?"

"A good lover."

"Oh." Draco's throat was dry. He loved Percy—of course he did, and they'd exchanged the sentiment many times before—but that easy acceptance, the idea that he was needed… it always caught him a little bit by surprise. "Thank… thank you."

"Six years," Percy said softly. "The battle was six years ago."

Draco sat down heavily on the mattress. "When you say it like that, it sounds like it happened a lifetime ago. It still feels like only yesterday."

Percy burrowed a little further under the blankets. "I agree. But… the changes that battle wrought… they never bothered you."

His loss of sight, Draco reasoned, was what Percy was referring to. "Of course not. It hasn't changed you, except for the way you get around."

Percy laughed a little. "You know, sometimes I think it helped me see things more clearly."

Draco reached for the water glass, intending to refill it. "Like what?" Percy never initiated these conversations unless he had a reason. Draco was determined to discover what that was.

Percy's fingers disappeared under his pillow, then reemerged with a black box clutched in his hand. "Like the fact that I want… I want this to be forever. I want it to last for an eternity." He was growing more confident the more he spoke. "What do you say?"

The glass had slipped from his fingers, because, oh Merlin, Percy was presenting him a ring. The bloody idiot was proposing to him while sick in bed.

Call Draco a fool, but it warmed his heart nonetheless.

Through his shock and impressive build-up of emotions, he was rather proud that he managed to choke out, "Are you saying I'm only worth one eternity?"

Percy grinned and pulled him closer, but Draco turned his head before their lips could crash together.

"I love—care about you deeply, Weasley, but if you think you're going to give me that Godric-awful illness, then you have another thing coming."

Percy laughed, coughed, then smiled weakly. "You truly are an enigma, Draco." He reached up and cupped Draco's jaw. "Is that a yes?"

"It's a hell yes. Budge up; you're shaking, and my body heat will help."

Percy happily obliged.

An indistinguishable number of hours later, there was a knock at the door. Draco, wrapped tightly around Percy, managed to grab his wand and unlock the door after checking the wards. Luckily, Molly took the hint and let herself in. He could hear her pottering about the apartment for a bit until she found them in the bedroom. Her eyes softened when she saw her sleeping son.

"Careful," Draco hissed as she approached. "A glass broke."

She nodded and dodged it with a practiced ease only a mother could have, then set two containers on his bedside table. "I brought dinner," she whispered. "How was he?"

"Completely stubborn and unreasonable," Draco quipped. Then his tone softened. "He really tired himself out."

Molly chuckled. "I see he hasn't changed." Her brown eyes landed on the ring on Draco's finger; he flushed, but her smile remained warm. "It's nice to see that he still keeps his appointments, too."

Draco blinked. "Hmm?"

Molly perched herself on the foot of the bed. "He told me he wanted to propose today," she explained.

Ah. So that was why the proposal had been so strangely timed; now that he thought about it, this was the anniversary of their first "I love yous"—a fact Draco only knew because Percy celebrated _everything_.

He glanced down at Percy's head on his shoulder, still slumbering peacefully. "Well. Nothing can stop him when he puts his mind to something."

He was always nervous around his lover's family, but this conversation was strangely easy. Maybe it was because of Molly's easy acceptance of him—she'd been much more ready to welcome him into the family than her husband had been, seeing as she didn't have an age-long feud with one of his parents—or maybe it was because Percy fit so nicely against him that nothing could go wrong.

Molly laughed quietly. "Oh, don't I know it. Well, dear, I'm sure you're anxious for some alone time, so I'd best be on my way." She reached over and patted his hand before she went, but paused in the doorway. "Draco? You'll love being married. It's an unbreakable bond… the most incredible thing in the world."

Maybe she knew that eternity scared him; maybe she knew he thought nothing could last forever. Whatever the case, her words still comforted him. When he smiled down at Percy, he could only hope she was right.

It was so easy to picture spending his life with the man beside him.

He cleared his throat, but his voice was still hoarse when he spoke. "I think you're right."

**A/N:**

**WC: Assorted Appreciation: 14. Amy Pond — Write about someone making a big commitment **

**WC: Disney Challenge: T1: Determination — Write about someone being determined to prove doubters wrong**

**WC: Trope of the Month: 14. Making an agreement**

**WC: All Sorts of Space: 11. (word) unbreakable**

**WC: Book Club: Peter — (word) assumption, (action) frowning at others, (action) bringing someone dinner**

**WC: Showtime: 5. Epic I — (genre) romance**

**WC: Sophie's Shelf: D11. "You truly are an enigma."**

**WC: Press Play: 22. "I will kill you by accident eventually."**

**WC: LIza's Loves: 12. Noble Variant — alt. (word) chivalry**

**WC: Angel's Archives: 3. "Oh no, he's hot!"**

**WC: Scamander's Case: 29. (dialogue) "Come here."**

**WC: Bex's Basement: 8. "All I'm going to use this bed for is eating, sleeping, and maybe building a little fort."**

**WC: Film Festival: 16. (word) spoiled**

**WC: Marvel Appreciation: 18. alt. Write about someone wanting to make up for a past mistake**

**WC: Lyric Alley: 10. Telling me what your heart meant**

**Fortnightly: Strax: 13. (dialogue) "May I take your clothes?" (BONUS)**

**Fortnightly: Coconut Smash: 14. Shattered glass**

**Wandmakers: Pear: (era) trio, Dragon heartstring: (character) Draco Malfoy, Supple: "I can taste my hatred for you."**

**Sci-Fi: Blind!AU (BONUS)**

**Mythology: 8. (word) eternity**

**Game Night: Tropes: Huddling for warmth**

**Build a Bear: Huddling for warmth**

**302\. Offend**

**155\. (theme) illness**


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